Case Summaries

Criminal Law & Procedure

[03/11] Stanley v. Schriro
In a capital habeas matter, a denial of the petition is affirmed in part where defense counsel's performance did not prejudice petitioner during the guilt phase of his trial. However, denial of the petition is reversed in part where trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance during the penalty phase of trial by failing to investigate and present readily available mitigating evidence and that failure was prejudicial.

[03/11] Tijani v. Holder
Petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioner's asylum application is granted in part where the court was required to remand to the BIA to address the questions of whether petitioner would be in danger of persecution on account of his religion or would be entitled to other relief. However, the petition is denied in part where petitioner's credit card fraud in violation of Cal. Penal Code section 532a(1) constituted a crime of moral turpitude.

[03/11] US v. Dodd
Defendant's sentence for knowingly receiving and possessing child pornography is affirmed where: 1) absent concrete evidence of ignorance -- evidence that was needed because ignorance was entirely counterintuitive -- a fact-finder could reasonably infer that the defendant knowingly employed a file sharing program for its intended purpose; and 2) the district court committed no procedural error in determining defendant's advisory guidelines sentencing range.

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Family Law

[03/05] People v. Warwick
Conviction of defendant of child abuse and neglect and jury's true finding on the enhancement that she personally inflicted great bodily injury on her child is affirmed as, when she gave birth to her son in her bedroom and concealed the birth causing severe injuries, defendant inflicted great bodily injury on her child.

[03/05] Doe v. S. Carolina Dep't of Soc. Servs.
In a 42 U.S.C. section 1983 action brought by a minor child and her adoptive parents against defendant, an Adoption Specialist with the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS), alleging violations of their substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and state law claims against SCDSS under the South Carolina Tort Claims Act (SCTCA), judgment is affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded where: 1) when a state involuntarily removes a child from her home, thereby taking the child into its custody and care, the state has taken an affirmative act to restrain the child's liberty, triggering the protections of the Due Process Clause and imposing "some responsibility for the child's safety and general well being"; 2) because it would not have been apparent to a reasonable social worker in defendant's position that her actions violated the Fourteenth Amendment, she is entitled to qualified immunity; 3) prospective adoptive parents have no substantive due process right to the disclosure of a child's history of sexual abuse; and 4) district court's grant of defendants' motion for summary judgment on the state law claims for gross negligence against SCDSS is vacated and remanded for consideration of the applicability of section 15-78-60(25).

[03/04] In re E.O.
Juvenile court's denial of a father's request for presumed father status is affirmed as the only provision of Family Code section 7611 that might possibly apply is subdivision (d) which states that a man is a presumed father if he "receives the child into his home and openly holds out the child as his natural child," and here, the father did not establish that he came within this or any of the categories set forth in Family Code section 7611.

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Immigration Law

[03/11] Tijani v. Holder
Petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioner's asylum application is granted in part where the court was required to remand to the BIA to address the questions of whether petitioner would be in danger of persecution on account of his religion or would be entitled to other relief. However, the petition is denied in part where petitioner's credit card fraud in violation of Cal. Penal Code section 532a(1) constituted a crime of moral turpitude.

[03/10] Vila v. US Atty. Gen.
In a petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioner's application for a waiver of inadmissibility, the petition is denied where, because petitioner's approved I-140 visa petition did not make him a lawful resident under section 212(h) when the Immigration and Naturalization Service formally approved his application for adjustment, petitioner did not lawfully reside continuously in the U.S. for the seven years preceding the initiation of his removal proceedings on October 25, 2003.

[03/09] Sadhvani v. Holder
A petition for review by a native of Togo of the BIA's denial of his motion to reopen asylum application is denied as the BIA did not abuse its discretion in denying petitioner's motion based on the statutory requirement that one must be present in the United States to be eligible for asylum, and here, because petitioner was removed pursuant to a valid order of removal, he no longer can pursue his asylum application.

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